The Liverpool manager did not understand either decision while the Tottenham Hotspur boss praised the referee, saying neither call was controversial.
Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have presented remarkably conflicting views on Jonathan Moss’s decision to award Tottenham Hotspur two penalties in the 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday.
The game was a hotly contested affair which turned out to be one of the most exciting games of the season, filled with late drama to the delight of the neutral.
Liverpool talisman and eventual man-of-the-match Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for his team in the third minute. The Reds held on to the lead for quite some time, before substitute Victor Wanyama drew level for Spurs.
Harry Kane then had the chance to put his team ahead by netting his 100th Premier League goal from the spot, only for his shot to be saved by Loris Karius.
Salah sent Liverpool into the lead again in dramatic fashion with an unbelievable finish in the 91st minute, which looked to have sealed the victory for Klopp’s side.
The Kop was left devastated, however, when Erik Lamela drew a foul in the box earning a second spot kick which was calmly converted by Kane at the second time of asking.
As reported by the BBC, speaking to the media after the game Klopp said: “There were so many situations to talk about but the ref’s decisions decided the game so I can’t help but talk about them.
“I don’t understand either of the penalty situations. The first one was offside and the second, I know already what the ref and his assistant will say. There was a touch, a little touch. But Lamela has jumped into him and wanted the touch and to go down.
“If the ref kept playing at that level then fine, but in the first half he wasn’t giving fouls. Then for the softest touch of the whole game he decides it is a foul.
“We were a bit unlucky here and there but we had enough chances to win the game. And we would have if it wasn’t for those decisions.”
Pochettino’s views on the decisions were so conflicting that they do not even sound as though they are from the same game. The Argentine went so far as to highlight the dominance of his side who, in fairness, dominated possession with 66 per cent and out-shot the home side by four.
“It was an amazing game to watch – two teams that always try to play exciting football,” the Spurs gaffer said, “I was calm because the team plays so well. The feeling is we dropped two points. We were much, much, much better than Liverpool.
“Both were a penalty and it is not controversial. Sometimes people complain about the referee, but when they are right it is good to tell everyone.
“It was important, the character. When you analyse the game, it was always under control despite conceding the first goal. When you analyse the 90 minutes, Tottenham were much better.”
Both sides will feel it was an opportunity missed, especially Tottenham, who passed up the chance to leapfrog Liverpool into third place ahead of Chelsea’s game against Watford tonight.
As it stands, Spurs remain fifth, knocking on the door of the top four, only one point behind Chelsea and two points behind Liverpool.
Should Chelsea win tonight, however, they will launch themselves into third place, with the race for the top four arguably looking more interesting than ever before.
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